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From the FTC website www.ftc.gov comes this consumer
complaint: I applied for a loan in November 2000 and was
told I had bad credit. I requested a credit report in November 2000 and
found all sorts of crazy information on it. I’m single but was listed as
married. When I renewed my driver’s license by mail, I was surprised to
find someone else’s face on my license. This is a nightmare and requires
a large amount of my time.
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If your wallet has been stolen, your computer hacked
into, your credit compromised, or you find yourself otherwise a victim of
identity theft, there are steps you can take to resolve this problem. Identity theft occurs when someone
poses as you and uses your name and identity to commit fraudulent acts such
as passing bad checks, defaulting on loans, and filing false tax returns just
to name a few. Some steps to
resolve identity theft are obvious, some not so evident.
First:
Contact the major credit bureaus.
As we discussed in the previous issue of Info Point
for Executives, there are three major credit reporting agencies that
keep your credit information, Equifax (www.equifax.com),
Experian (www.experian.com), and
Transunion (www.transunion.com). Credit information includes not
only when and how and how frequently you pay your bills, but it also
includes where you live and have lived in the past, information about your
marital status, and even information if you have been arrested or not, as
all these items can have bearing on your credit rating. The first thing you need to do if
your personal information has been stolen, even before someone uses this
information falsely, is to contact one of the three agencies and put a
fraud alert on file. The first
company that you contact will contact the other two companies and inform
them that you need a fraud alert.
The fraud alert indicates that the credit agencies must contact you
before anyone opens any new accounts in your name or before any of your
existing credit information is altered. Your credit report from all three companies will
be sent to you free of charge.
Note that this fraud alert is only good for 6 months, so you may
want to contact the agencies again after this time period and re-instate
the fraud alert if necessary.
After the initial fraud alert request, you must contact each agency
individually to renew the fraud alert.
If you find that there is false activity on your credit
reports, contact the credit agencies and dispute the information. Each credit agency has 30 days to
resolve the dispute.
Second:
Cancel and close all accounts that have been fraudulently used.
Contact all your credit card, bank, and other vendors
and let them know your information has been stolen. Stop any checks for bank
accounts. Call and report that
your ATM card has been stolen.
If you had any additional account information that was taken such as
utility information or other service provider information, also contact
those companies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has an ID theft
affidavit form you can print from their web site (www.ftc.gov) that you can use to provide
proof that you didn’t open accounts that were opened falsely in your
name. Print off the form, fill
it out, and have it notarized.
Third: File a police report.
File a police report and get a copy of the report so
that you can use it when you are disputing counterfeit activities in your
accounts. You may have
difficulty filing the police report if a crime, such as the theft of a
wallet, was not involved.
However, some creditors won’t even start resolving your dispute
without having a police report.
The police may tell you that identity theft is not a crime in your
state, but you have several options to file a report. Information on how to file a police
report, including a list of state laws on identity theft are available on
the FTC website.
Fourth:
File your complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Go to the FTC web site and file your complaint. The FTC database is used for
investigations of identity theft.
The database also helps to maintain a record of identity theft that
can be used to learn more about identity theft and what can be done to
solve the problem and help victims.
Being a victim of identity theft, like any other crime,
can be frustrating, time-consuming, and costly. However, with identity theft being one of the fastest
growing crimes, help is available.
The best place for help is the FTC. Their web site and their Identity Theft Hotline
(1-877-IDTHEFT) staffed by identity theft counselors can help you through
the process of restoring your identity.
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